Amplifier Installation

[chiph]

Quote:

Originally posted by MiniBil
Great! I'll make sure they run a 10 gauge the way you describe. I had it installed by a local sound shop here in Northern California. This is the first Mini they've installed.

The speakers were straight drop-in swaps. Yes, crossovers are in the doors.

I'm not crazy with the sound, just yet. I'm having them remove the Hifonics amp to replace with an Eclipse (Fujitsu Ten) 5-channel. You can see specs (no picture) here: .http://www.eclipse-web.com/products/amp/36501.html

The MB Quart front speakers use titanium tweeters. They sound kinda hot. When they're done and I get the sound balanced, I think it'll rock.

MiniBil

MiniBil -
I had the QM-218's in my VW Jetta. With the hard leather seats, they were overly bright sounding. I had listened to them at a couple of competitions, not realizing that those cars had half-octave equalizers that compensated for them.

I eventually adjusted the crossover to reduce their output by something like -6db (it's just a jumper setting), and it was tolerable after that. But if you have the cloth seating in your MINI, I think you'll be OK.

Chip H.

[mikeythemini]

No remote turn on for amp from head unit???
There is. Who installed it for you. Check again
The last one I installed I put the amps ijnside the boot cubby holes. No interference. 2 kenwood 529's using a KVD840 voltage divider behind the factory head unit to convert it to rca output. No interference.
Mike

[Davbret]

I'm running zero guage power and grounds. Not sure how big zero guage is? Just take a look at your local neighborhood pierced freak. The really thick stuff that looks painful hanging from people's ears is zero guage. The higher the guage, the thinner the wire. I would say to use at least 8 guage grounds. I also created my own ground source by drilling, sanding away a bit of paint and attaching it there.

And you really should drop the factory head unit. It's very limiting. Go with an aftermarket HU that has an infa-red remote, that way you can use a PAC SWI-X to retain your steering wheel controls. There's more info about this on my website, page 2. Here is a direct link for you.

Oh, and stay tuned...my install is getting redone this weekend. Frenching together the two pieces in the boot and recovering with dark grey (vs the black that is there now) carpet. The plexiglass viewing window is being replaced with a silvery, opaque viewing window with red pin lighting. Should be stellar when done.

R

[MiniBil]

mikeythemini, I'm beginning to suspect the guys at the local sound shop might be a little slow on the uptake. I'll question them about the remote on when I meet with them today.

Davbret, though I know it would be generally desirable to go with a different head unit, I'm curious as to what the specific limiting factors might be with the stock unit?

MiniBil

[minhi]

MiniBil,

I'm not 100% sure that the HiFonics has a built-in remote turn on lead--I can't seem to find any details on the web that says it does.

I'm surprised the shop didn't rig a custom relay from the stock headunit--the stock head does have a power/antenna lead you can tap for remote turn on.

an aftermarket unit will not necessarily remove the whine you're hearing since it might be interference at the amp down. but it will offer considerably better source quality to the amp. Not sure if you know but the stock head unit actually amplifies the signal before sending it to the speaker. so

inside the stock head the signal gets amplified once -> then sent to the speaker output -> you pick it up there take it to your amp and convert it down for the amp -> the amp then amplifies it back up to send to the speakers

there's a lot going on, and of course this ignores the fact that the actual signal from the stock head isn't near the quaility of a preamp output from a mediocre aftermarket unit.

check out davebrets guide to see how you can maintain the steering wheel controls.

[MiniBil]

minhi:

Thanks for education! I don't think the fellas at the sound shop are the sharpest of marbles.

Replacing the HU isn't a matter of cost. I'm more concerned with the appearance. I like the flow of the stock HU.

[minhi]

Quote:

Originally posted by MiniBil
minhi:

Thanks for education! I don't think the fellas at the sound shop are the sharpest of marbles.

Replacing the HU isn't a matter of cost. I'm more concerned with the appearance. I like the flow of the stock HU.

i wouldn't hold it against the shop, it's a new car and at least they're trying to work with you on it. Just make sure to keep them honest about the work.

this headunit is the closest to stock i could find. this picture is the green illumination, but they also make one that lights up orange--which is a very good match.

http://www.nakamichiusa.com/auto/cdp...d_45_specs.htm

they've since been discontinued but a few of the online stores still have them in stock. sound quality is apparently brilliant--but not many features like eq, or MP3. it also has dodgy CDR support according to Dom.

of course your other problem is the nav voice out if you replace the headunit. there are a few threads on that as well.

[Davbret]

I prefer aftermarket headunits as it allows for much better customization of the sound. For example, my head unit has seperate leads for front, rear and sub. This allows me to have 3 seperate amps controlling my speakers. Also, I have full eq ability to fine tune the sound as well as bass/mid/treb/sub controls for the overall sound.

Not even to mention the problems about the onboard amplification of sound Minhi brought up.

Personally I just find it a better option to rip it all out and start from scratch. A bad comparison....but if you put in a new floor/cabinets/stove in your kitchen...would you leave the fridge just because it's still working?

R

[minhi]

all,

minibil inspired me to try to solve my own whine problem. well i've got it about 99% beat . i messed around with the amp location in the boot (note this might not work for you, could be amp specific). i found it best on the passengers side. but this was a minor improvement. my biggest difference was to re-route the pre-amp cables.

at first i was running the preamp cables along the passengers side below the trip panel then under the passengers rear quarter panel. well i pulled out the preamp cables where it entered the rear quarter panel and instead ran it under the rear passenger seat.

this has removed nearly all of the whine i was getting. i also tried a few different ground points for the amp, but i couldn't find one better then the ground for the battery. hope this helps!

[MiniBil]

minhi: Glad I could provide a bit of incentive.

I wasn't able to meet with the sound shop today. The new amp didn't arrive. I'll bring it to them on Wednesday morning to redo some things. Including having them re-run the preamp cables as you described.

I'll include some pictures of the current setup in the boot, along with some dimensions of the amp.

What are the dimensions of your amp? What's the relative placement?

[minhi]

i'm using a 4X50watt amp that is about 10inchs by 10 inches. i've got it as far to the passengers side as possible.


before you have them do anything, i would just unplug the preamp cables from the amp and turn the car on--make sure to at least elminate the amp as the source of the whine!! then work backwards like i did by checking the routing of the preamp cable and the ground points for the amp.

actually since you're using the factory head, where exactly is the Hi-lo converter? is it at the headunit and you're running rca pre-amp cables all the way to the back of the car? or did they run speaker wires from the headunit to the back of the car then use a hi-lo converter closer to the amp?


sorry it's kind of hard to debug since i'm not 100% how the shop did things. since you're using the factory head, you need an amp that supports high level speaker inputs or a hi-lo converter to change speaker level to pre-amp levels.

in my situation with an aftermarket head unit, i have rca pre-amps running from the front all the way to the back. you might not have that.

[Kennyhkw]

In my previous car i had the whining problem when the engine was running and it got louder as the revs increased. Tried a few things that didn't work so i gathered that the JVC CD/MD headunit was at fault. Top of the range unit by the way. So i bought a new Kenwood headunit and it solved the whining problem!
It jus depends on the quality of the components sometimes.
Try another headunit with RCA Pre-outs instead of using the high-level outs and see if that can totally cure the whine.

[MINI4PLAY]

Does anyone have a 2003 Mini radio for sale???

[MiniBil]

Adding the DynaMat ExtremeLiner and replacing the Hifonics amp with an Eclipse model eliminated the whine. Re-routing of pre-amp cables was not necessary.

The MB Quart 6x9's in the rear sound very muddy. Poor mid-range. They'll be replaced with 6.5" component speakers on Friday.

Thank you to all who provided guidance and assistance!

I'll be posting pictures of the installation sometime this weekend.

[minhi]

good to hear, just goes to show that each install has it's own unique issues to deal with!